Baryte

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A northern English classic from the famous West Cumbrian iron mines. Specifically from Mowbray mine, this impressive double crystal of long bladed Baryte is of the quality only produced when the mine was active in the late 19th to early 20th century. The two crystals reach 15.4 and 14.3 cm in length and are attached to a small piece of crystallized Dolomite. They are almost parallel, fanning out just slightly at their tips. The crystals have great shape, with wedge-shaped terminations and a fine resinous surface lustre. They have been repaired and restored in at least 6 places and this is visible under longwave UV light, but in daylight these repairs are barely visible. As is the nature of these wonderful old-time elongated Baryte crystals, their fragility combined with their high density means that cleavage fractures are inevitable. This is nevertheless an extremely fine, museum quality British Baryte, the like of which will unlikely ever be mined again.